The Texas Rancher's Marriage

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  “Cool,” Jeffrey said.

  Keenly aware that he had a captive audience, Chase got to work, carefully adding a little canola oil to all the moving parts.

  When he had finished, he tried it out. Sure enough, the wheels and axels began to turn.

  It was hard to know who was beaming more, him or the twins. He picked up all the toys. “Ready to see if it will work?”

  Jessalyn and Jeffrey nodded enthusiastically.

  Together, the three of them returned to the living room, where track pieces were spread out in the middle of the floor.

  Chase went back to assembling them. By the time he had finished hooking everything up, the twins were as involved as he had hoped. “Okay,” he said, on a wing and a prayer, “here goes.”

  He hit the switch. The train engine moved forward, smooth as silk. Jeffrey and Jessalyn’s faces filled with wonder. Mesmerized, they cuddled even closer to him and watched the train go around, accepting him for the first time since he had come back to Texas.

  * * *

  MERRI LET HERSELF INTO THE ranch house, took off her boots and hung her rain slicker up to dry. Given how long she had been gone, she had half expected to hear crying or at least whining. Instead the place was amazingly quiet, except for…was that a whistle? And a bell? And her children—their children, she reminded herself sternly—laughing and talking excitedly?

  Merri followed the sounds to the living room.

  Her heart leaped at what she saw: Chase sitting on the floor in front of an old-fashioned electric train set, with a child on either side of him. Jessalyn had the bell and whistle. Jeffrey was manning the gear box.

  “Okay, stop it,” Chase said, “and reverse the train.”

  Jeffrey carefully did as ordered.

  “Ring the bell!” Chase told Jessalyn.

  She instantly complied.

  Abruptly, the kids became aware of Merri. Their eyes shone with happiness. “Mommy, this is so much fun!”

  “We get to play with Chase’s trains.”

  “I see you all survived without me,” Merri drawled.

  Chase looked as content as she had felt the first time she’d held the children in her arms, as tiny babies. “We did.” He smiled, obviously enjoying the simple domestic scene as much as she was.

  Pleasure rushed through her. Was this what family life would eventually be like? Once adjustments were made? Still feeling a little chilled, she stepped closer to the hearth and stood with her back to the flames. “Want me to rustle up some dinner before you head off to the hospital?”

  Chase shot her a grateful glance. “That’d be great,” he said.

  “We’ll stay here and play, Mommy,” Jeffrey said.

  And they did. Right up until the moment they had to come to the table to eat. The only difficult part was afterward, when Chase had to leave for his shift. “But we don’t want you to go,” Jessalyn said, stamping her foot.

  Jeffrey pouted. “Yeah, we like having you here!”

  Chase hunkered down. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

  Since it was the weekend, there was no preschool. “You’ll see him after breakfast,” Merri promised.

  The twins looked at him. For a moment, Merri thought they were going to launch themselves into his arms. Instead, they just smiled shyly and scampered away.

  Merri turned to Chase. “Good work, champ.”

  He looked truly happy, hug or no hug. He reached for her, drawing her into his arms and bussing her cheek. “It’s definitely a start.”

  * * *

  “MOMMY, YOU ARE NOT being fair!” Jeffrey said the next morning.

  “Yeah,” Jessalyn grumbled. “We want to play with Lionel and Pennsylvania!”

  Merri glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. She had expected Chase home around eight-thirty. It was now nine, and there was no sign of him. “I told you before,” she explained patiently. “The electric train belongs to Chase, and only he knows how to use it. So you’re going to have to wait for him.”

  Jessalyn studied her suspiciously. “It’s not that hard for grown-ups,” she argued.

  True, but Merri wasn’t about to interrupt the fragile thread of cooperation and contentment that had sprung up between Chase and the twins over that heirloom toy.

  She smiled again. “I’m sure Chase will let you play with the trains when he gets home from work. In the meantime, why don’t we bake some Christmas cookies and surprise him?”

  As expected, sugar was the magic potion that cut short all temper tantrums.

  With the kids’ help, Merri made the spritz dough and filled the cookie press. The kids took turns pushing the trigger that loaded them on the trays.

  Merri turned the oven on to preheat, then handed the twins bottles of colored sprinkles.

  Jessalyn decorated the miniature stars and Christmas trees on one tray, Jeffrey the other. When they were finished, Merri slid both trays into the oven to bake.

  While they waited, Jessalyn propped her chin in her hands. “Mommy, is Chase really going to be our daddy now, and not just our uncle?”

  Merri had an idea how confusing all this was for the kids. Trying to explain the complex adult reasons behind her marriage to Chase would have just made it more so. So she stuck to the facts, saying only, “He really is.”

  Silence fell as the twins exchanged looks. Finally, Jeffrey asked, “Is Chase going to be an army doc and go far away again?”

  “No. I’m not,” a deep reassuring voice said.

  They all turned to see Chase walk into the room, several big shopping bags in hand. Joy flooded Merri as she savored the feeling of being there with him.

  “What have you been up to?” she asked her new husband. On impulse, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

  Chase grinned. Wrapping an arm about her waist, he hauled her close and kissed her back, his lips briefly brushing her temple. He gave her waist another squeeze as he turned his attention back to the kids.

  He set the shopping bags on the kitchen table. “I got to thinking last night that it’s Christmastime, not just for us, but for Thomas the Train and all his friends.”

  When he started hitting the mark, he really hit it, Merri thought, impressed to see he wasn’t wasting any time.

  Jessalyn jumped up and down. “Like Percy and Rosie and Sodor?”

  “Yes. So on the way home from work I stopped and got some stuff to help your trains celebrate, too.”

  The children’s faces lit up with excitement. Chase shrugged out of his jacket. Still clad in surgical scrubs, he asked Merri, “Is it okay if we use the coffee table in the living room for now?”

  “Go for it!” She beamed.

  The timer dinged. Merri turned to take the cookies out of the oven, then joined the rest of the family.

  “I didn’t know if you’d ever had a Christmas village.” Chase covered the table with a large rectangle of white felt. He pulled out four beautifully painted wooden pieces.

  Merri admired the pharmacy, train station, grocery store and church. “We haven’t. But it’s a terrific idea.”

  Chase lifted miniature toy pine trees, lampposts and park benches from the bags. “Where do you think these should go?” he asked the kids.

  While they were engrossed with the setup, Merri slipped from the room. She returned with a plastic storage bin of wooden train tracks and wooden trains and handed them over, then headed out again.

  “You don’t have to go,” Cha
se called after her.

  Not about to interrupt what this very special bonding between Chase and the kids, she called back, “Uh, yeah, I do, if we ever want to get the rest of those cookies baked!” There were approximately four dozen left to prepare.

  Merri was just taking the last pan out of the oven when Jessalyn and Jeffrey came running in. “Mommy, come and see what we built! It’s Christmas for our trains!” They took her hands, and she followed them into the living room. Chase was lounging on the floor next to the coffee table. A miniature village had been set up. He’d never looked more relaxed.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said. “Did you say thank you?”

  “Thank you!” the twins chorused shyly. They smiled at Chase broadly and sat down next to him to play.

  Merri walked over. Golden-brown stubble rimmed his handsome jaw. He had circles of fatigue beneath his eyes. Reminded that he had been up nearly nonstop for almost twenty-eight hours, she said, “You doing okay?”

  He shot a telling look at the kids, telegraphing his growing love for them. “Better than okay.”

  “Need breakfast?”

  “I had something at the hospital cafeteria, about five.”

  “Need a bed?” Merri asked, beginning to get the hang of being his wife.

  He exhaled. “Unfortunately, yes.”

  Merri continued to study him compassionately. “What time do you want me to wake you?”

  “Four o’clock.”

  That was only five hours away. Merri wrinkled her nose. “Is that going to be enough rest?”

  “Plenty. I want to have time to run another errand before I head back to the hospital this evening.”

  “Then four it is,” she promised.

  * * *

  AS IT TURNED OUT, MERRI didn’t have to wake Chase up. He came down at three-thirty, freshly showered and shaven. “You-all up for an errand in town?”

  The twins, who had been too excited to nap, scowled uncooperatively. “We want to play trains,” Jessalyn declared.

  “This is something for Christmas, to help us continue to get in the spirit of the holiday,” Chase qualified casually,

  All play stopped. “Is it going to be fun?” Jeffrey finally asked.

  Chase shrugged. “Are the trains fun?”

  The twins nodded. “Lots of fun,” they said in unison.

  “Then I think you’ll like this, too.” He walked over to the coat tree to get their light jackets.

  The rain from the previous day had cleared up, and it was bright and sunny outside, although still a bit nippy. He helped the children on with their coats, then gallantly handed Merri hers.

  “What about me?” she teased, enjoying their newfound family togetherness. “Will I like this, too?”

  “Hmm.” Chase tilted his head, studying her with impish eyes. “I guess we’re going to have to find out.”

  Minutes later, they were in Merri’s SUV, driving to town. Chase was behind the wheel; Christmas music was playing on the radio. “How about a little hint?” Merri asked curiously.

  “Uh…” He chuckled. “No.”

  “But we want to know!” the kids chorused.

  “Okay. I’ll give you a few clues. It’s big. And prickly,” Chase said.

  “A dinosaur?” Merri asked, playing along.

  “Mommy! A dinosaur won’t fit in the car!”

  “It will if it’s a toy dinosaur,” she argued.

  “But it’s not a toy,” Chase said.

  “Hmm.” Merri tapped her fingers against her lips in a parody of thoughtfulness.

  Jessalyn bounced up and down. “What color is it?”

  “Green.” Chase smiled. “It’s green and big and prickly....”

  “I know!” Jeffrey shouted.

  Jessalyn yelled, too. “It’s a Christmas tree!”

  “You all are so smart, you figured it out.” Chase tossed Merri a warm glance. “I thought we would pick one out together, since it’s for all four of us.”

  “Can we decorate it together?” Jessalyn asked.

  Merri nodded. “I think we’ll have time.”

  They arrived at the Laramie Rotary Club lot. It was brimming with beautiful Afghan pines of all shapes and sizes. “So the question is,” Chase drawled, as they roamed up and down the aisles, “do we want a Charlie Brown Christmas tree? One that is little and needs lots of love? Or do we want a middle-size one, that isn’t too tall or too short? Or a great big tree that’s taller even than me?”

  The twins looked at each other. “I want a little tiny one that needs lots of love,” Jessalyn said.

  “I want a great big one that is bigger than Da—uh, Chase,” Jeffrey said.

  Merri caught her breath. Jeffrey had almost called him “Daddy.”

  But not quite. She saw a flash of mixed joy and wistfulness in Chase’s eyes. Again, her heart went out to him.

  Chase went on cheerfully, “Okay. We have one vote for a tiny one, one vote for a big one. What does Mommy want?”

  Merri propped her fists on her hips and played along. “Putting me on the spot here, aren’t you, buddy?”

  Chase spread his hands. “Everybody’s got to vote.”

  “I noticed you haven’t voted yet, Daddy.” Merri deliberately used the moniker Chase coveted and deserved.

  His eyes twinkled in response. “That’s cause I’m waiting for you. Ladies first and all.”

  The children giggled. “Yeah. It’s your turn, Mommy. You have to vote, too,” Jeffrey told her.

  “Then I want a medium-size one,” Merri decreed.

  “Your turn.” The kids looked at Chase.

  “I say…” he paused until he had them all waiting with bated breath “…there’s only one way to break a three-way tie.”

  * * *

  “THREE TREES,” MERRI murmured when they had finished securing the evergreens onto the roof of her SUV.

  Chase tipped the teenage helpers handsomely, then turned and pointed to the cargo area. “Don’t forget the wreaths for the front and back doors.”

  Merri breathed in the fragrance of fresh-cut pine and man. He was so handsome and kind. “Don’t you think it’s a little excessive?”

  “For our first Christmas together?” Chase murmured. “I think it’s just right.”

  Merri warned, “You’re going to spoil them.”

  “I’m going to spoil all of you.” He took her chin in his hand and kissed her, right there in the parking lot.

  A jolt of desire swept through her. Shocked but elated, Merri rose up on tiptoe and kissed him back. If today was any indication, she thought happily, they were going to have a very Merry Christmas indeed.

  Chapter Nine

  “The current schedule must be killing you,” Jackson McCabe said to Chase. “Working twelve-hour days, five days a week, and then some.”

  It was certainly wreaking havoc on the fragile bonds of his marriage, although as the new guy, he wasn’t in any position to complain. Chase sat down opposite the silver-haired chief of surgery. “It’s a lot easier than what I did in the military.” There, he’d been on call literally twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

  “Still, what works for the surgeons whose kids are grown and out of the nest probably doesn’t work so well for you.”

  Over the past ten days, Chase hadn’t been seeing as much of his family as he would have liked. “The day shift is okay. The twins get up at six most mornings, so I’m able to have breakfast with them before I
have to leave for the hospital, at seven-thirty.” In order to make the thirty-minute drive and arrive on time.

  “And in the evenings?” Jackson pressed.

  Chase did miss having dinner with them. “Merri’s been trying to keep them up so I can see them when I get home at eight-thirty, and then tuck them in. Of course, when I’ve had the night shift, I’m home to have dinner with them and help with the bedtime routine before I head to work at the hospital.”

  “But you don’t see them at all in the morning when you’re on nights,” the chief surgeon surmised.

  Chase frowned. “Right, because they leave for preschool at eight-thirty. Although sometimes we pass each other on the highway.”

  He winced. “That must be hard.”

  It was, particularly when the twins were upset because he wasn’t around enough to play trains with them.

  “How is Merri adapting to the new schedule?” Jackson asked with the compassion of a long-married man.

  That, Chase thought, was hard to tell. Outwardly, she was pleasant and cheerful and cooperative, every inch the supportive wife and doting mother. Inwardly, was another matter entirely.

  Now that their company was gone, she had fixed up the guest room again and suggested he sleep in there, to ensure he got enough rest.

  That wasn’t what he wanted, but he understood. Merri got up at five most mornings, even when she wasn’t doing the milking, so she could shower and dress and have some time to herself before the twins awakened. To ensure she got enough rest, she usually went to bed by nine-thirty or ten.

  “It’s hard, being married to a doctor.” Jackson continued, “Especially when you’re a newlywed.”

  “Merri’s been a trooper. And she’s busy with her own business, too,” Chase stated.

  “Still, I imagine she’d like to see a lot more of you. So the other surgeons and I were talking, and we’re going to make some changes to our shifts, moving the time from six to six, instead of eight to eight.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate that.”